It's Bigger On The Inside
by lightingpaperlanterns
Summary: Acatha James is a classical musician. When the London sky is taken over by a suspicious alien craft, Acatha must work with a mysterious man named 'John Smith' to help save the Earth from an invasion.
1. Chapter One

**Hello Fanficcers. I know, I haven't been around in a while, but I was in jazz band today, and I was looking at the double bass player (who is a major doctor who fan, btw) and had this amazing idea for a story, so I incorporated a few bits and pieces, like what I'm doing in my schoolwork in music class, and parts of my personality, with Doctor Who. **

**It's Matt Smith's Doctor, also. He's a lot like me, which is why this was so fun to write earlier tonight. **

**Please, please, read and review. This is my first non-Harry Potter Fanfic, and my first sci-fi fic, and feedback would be greatly appreciated. **

**~gabielle xx  
**

Acatha James looked at the notes before her on the page, and willed herself to be able to play them. She now reflected on something her first ever clarinet teacher had told her: it is not enough to wish something could happen; you must also work for it. She had realised before, and now realised again, that she had been right. You didn't become one of the best clarinet players in London by just wishing you could play.

The conductor had approached her earlier that evening and asked her if she would be interested in playing a concerto, featuring her as the soloist. Then he had placed the piece in front of her, and she had groaned. She hated that composer with every fibre of her being. And yet everybody else loved him. But still, she would have to play the concerto. She had already said yes.

And now, here she was, staring at the first page of the concerto. If it had been written by any other composer, perhaps she would be willing to give it a go. But right now, she had no motivation. She played through the first passage and automatically, almost reflexively, picked up on her mistakes straight away and went back. As she went back and played it properly, she thought about how wonderful a clarinet sounded in that register, and in an empty concert hall. It was a haunting, but beautiful sort of sound.

She managed to make it through most of the first movement without bothering to go back and make mistakes, and she thought it sounded pretty good. So did the man in the front row.

"Who are you?" she asked, suddenly worried. She hadn't seen this man before, and she was certain all the men that worked here would be at their stations, not listening to a twenty-two year old sight reading a piece of music.

The man seemed to think about his name for a while. "John," he finally replied. "John Smith."

"Sure," Acatha said sceptically. "If your name is actually John Smith, then I'm Emma Johnson."

"Who?"

_The nerve of some people_, Acatha thought. _How can he not know who Emma Johnson is?_ "Only the greatest clarinet player in the world," she replied.

"Oh, is that what you're playing? Well, it's changed a lot since I last saw one… must have been about… ooo, early December, 1791."

"Are you high?" she asked. "That was two centuries ago. Around the death of Mozart!"

"Really, was it that long ago? Mhm. Well, you play beautifully. The clarinet is a wonderful instrument."

"You didn't even know what it was two seconds ago."

"What's your name?"

"What's yours?"

"… Touche," he said.

"What are you doing here?" Acatha asked. "The open rehearsal for the orchestra finished an hour ago."

"I like how instruments sound in an empty concert hall," he said innocently. "It's haunting, but a beautiful kind of haunting."

Acatha paused. That was what she'd thought, wasn't it?

Something in the man's pocket beeped, and he jumped. "Oh, I'd better go. Brilliant playing."

"Thank you?" she asked.

After the man had hurried off, she decided to pack up. She'd had enough of the piece for one night. As she cleaned and polished her instrument, she suddenly realised what the man had been wearing. She was certain it had been dark brown pants, unremarkable in itself, but mixed with a light brown jacket, a red and white check shirt, and a bowtie. That couldn't be right, surely. But she was certain it was.

A phone rang, David Bowie's _Starman_ blared from the speaker, and should the mysterious man still be here, she'd be embarrassed about her taste in music. She groaned when she realised it was her mother.

"Hello," she said.

"Acatha, darling, when are you going to be home for dinner?"

"I'm just leaving the concert hall now, mother," she replied. "I should be home in about half an hour."

"Okay," her mother said. "I'll see you soon then."

"Bye mum."

As soon as she hung up, the phone rang again. "Hello?" she said. She hadn't bothered with checking the caller I.D.

"Ack, where are you?" her brother Cameron asked.

"I'm at the concert hall," she said. "What's up?"

"Look up at the sky," he said. "Something weird's going on. Something alien."

"There's no such thing as aliens, Cam," Acatha sighed. "Besides, you're at Oxford. That's a good hour away, at least."

"I'm pretty sure you'll be able to see this. And, well, the coordinates I've got here put it right above London… Has mum called you yet?"

"Yeah, just then. She wanted to know when I'd be home for dinner."

"How can she not have seen it?"

"You know mum doesn't like going outside," Acatha told him as she waved farewell to the door man. As she walked outside, she nearly dropped the phone. "Cameron, what the hell is that?"

"We're working on it. Just get home. I'll call you later."

"Bye," she said, and hung up. Fearing the image in the sky, she quickly hurried over to her car.

"Won't work," somebody told her. "Well, I mean the car will work, but you won't be able to get anywhere. All the major roads around here are blocked because stupid, stupid human beings looked up at the sky and caused crashes. That's the thing I don't get about you lot. You can be so very careless sometimes."

Acatha spun around and noticed the man from before hiding under the covers.

"You lot?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Well, you said 'you lot' referring to humans. What the hell are you then?"

He stuttered for a while. "Human."

"And I'm Michael Buble," Acatha answered sarcastically.

"I thought you were Emma Johnson," he replied, confused.

"That was when you were John Smith," she told him.

"I am John Smith," he said to her.

"You're lying."

"How do you know?"

"Instinct," she shrugged. "So, tell me John Smith, is it just coincidence that when you show up in my life, so does some scary hologram in the sky? Or is there a reason for it?"

"It's just a coincidence," he said.

"How am I going to get home? My mother's cooking dinner, and if I'm not home by the time it's ready, I'm going to be slaughtered."

"Mothers," the man shivered. "I've had a bad experience with mothers. But, I suppose, they turned out all right in the end."

"Ex-girlfriend's parents?" she asked knowingly.

"Yeah… not exactly. To answer your question, I have no idea how you're going to get home. Why don't you walk?"

She stared at him. "There's a serial killer loose. Or perhaps you haven't heard?"

"Serial killer? How were they killed?"

"The serial killers weren't killed."

"The victims. Honestly, you're stupid as well as careless."

"What makes you think I'm careless?" she asked, offended.

"I didn't say _you_ were care – oh, sorry, I'm digging a hole there… the victims, how were they killed?"

"Repeated stab wounds to the chest, I think. My sister could tell you… she's a homicide detective."

"On that case?"

"Yuh-huh."

"Where does she work?"

She stared at him again. "The police station?"

He nodded, accepting this answer. "Will she still be there now?"

"Probably."

"Come with me."


	2. Chapter Two

Cameron James sat at his computer, plugging in figures and always coming to the same conclusion: whatever was in the London sky, was definitely not of human origin. More to the point, he was sure it was not of Earth. Extra-terrestrial. His first thought was of little green men, in those small spacecrafts with the little bubbles on top, but he shook that thought away. The Earth's previous encounters with aliens had proved that. The Sycorax on that Christmas Day a few years back, the giant spider web in the sky the year after that… and then there'd been that invasion of those… Darleeks, yes, that was their name, with the planets in the sky.

His phone rang. He picked it up straight away, hoping that everybody in his family was okay. "Hello?" he asked.

"Cameron," his older sister's voice said, hardened by the day at the office. "You're an astronomy student. What's this thing in the sky? Phones are going crazy down here, and frankly, we don't have the resources, and we have to make a statement to the public."

"It's alien," Cameron said. "I've been running all sorts of calculations and programs, but it just keeps coming up with the same result. That thing is not from Earth."

"I was afraid of that," she said. "Okay, thanks. What do you think we should say it is?"

"Light phenomena," he answered, almost straight away. "Caused by the sun's rays being scattered in the Earth's atmosphere and stratosphere and –"

"Atmosphere, got it," she interrupted, before he could go into all the obscure layers surrounding the earth.

"Uh, yes, and they were scattered, and they've formed this illusion. Tell them that it shouldn't last long, and everything should be back to normal before long."

"Okay, thank you, Cameron," she said. "I knew I could count on you."

"Lucy?" he asked. "What's it like in London?"

"Traffic accidents on all major roads," Lucy James replied. "People preoccupied with what's up in the sky rather than what's on the road in front of them. People are panicking everywhere."

"Okay," he said. "Give mum my love. I'd come home, but I'm kind of needed here."

"That's okay," she said. "Just do what you need to to get this sorted out."

"There's only one person that can sort this out," he said.

"Well, it's a shame he doesn't exist," Lucy smiled sadly. "I'd better get back to work. Bye Cameron."

"Bye Lucy," he said, hanging up the phone. "He does exist," he then added to himself. "I'm sure of it."

"Where are we going?" Acatha shouted after John. "Do you know how far it is to the police station from here?"

"Not far," he said, and started walked again. She rolled her eyes, made sure she had her clarinet, and sped after him.

"You're crazy," she said.

"That is something I am told almost all the time," he smiled. "Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment," she said. He pretended not to hear her. She ended up following him to the police station, where a press conference was taking place outside, explaining the situation. He stopped a few metres from the microphones.

"Light phenomena?" he asked. "Who told them this?"

"So, it's not light phenomena?" she asked.

"Of course not, don't be stupid."

"I'm not stupid," she said defensively. "I could be just as smart as you."

"I highly doubt that, Emma," he said. "Or is it Michael?"

"It's neither," she said. "Look, did you want to talk to my sister or not?"

"Oh, yes, where is she?"

"She's that one," Acatha replied, pointing to the woman talking avidly to the microphones.

He looked between them. Lucy James had long, flowing blonde hair, and warm brown eyes. Her cheekbones where high, and she was very, very tall. He looked at the identical form of Acatha. "Ah, yes, I see the resemblance."

"Really?" she asked sarcastically. "Come on, we'll wait for her inside. That thing is giving me the creeps."

"Are you sure she works in there? It's extremely small."

"It's bigger on the inside," she told him. "Trust me."

"Really?" he asked, interested. "How is it bigger on the inside? Oh, that's very remarkable." He followed her inside, and stopped. "I thought you said it was bigger on the inside."

"It's a figure of speech, genius," she said, frustrated. "Lucy's desk is over here."

"Are you sure we're allowed in here?" he asked.

"You don't strike me as the kind of person that would care," Acatha replied, sitting down in her sister's chair. She typed in the password and brought up the file about the murders.

"How did you know the password?" he asked, fascinated.

"She's been using the same password for everything since third grade," Acatha told him. "I learnt it years ago, figured it would be the same now. She really should learn to change it though."

"So what's the password?"

"Nice try," she said.

"Afternoon, Lucy," a passing officer said, waving cheerily at her.

"Afternoon," she said back, keeping her head down in the hope that she wouldn't be recognised. Then she realised that she was Lucy's identical twin, and that she already had. "Here we go, Mr Smith," she said to the man. "All the information about the killings, and the pictures of the victims."

"Amazing," he said. "What are they doing here? And more importantly, what are they doing here in the twenty-first century?"

"What are dead bodies doing in the twenty-first century?" Acatha asked. "I don't know, why don't you ask them."

"No, the Stiltskins."

She stared at him with a blank face.

"The Stiltskins are… oh, you must be Lucy," he said to a woman standing behind Acatha.

"What are you doing here?" Lucy asked her sister, as Acatha spun around in her chair.

"I was showing Dr Smith the images of the dead bodies. He specialises in forensics, and I was hoping he might be able to help out."

The man held out a piece of paper confirming what she'd just told Lucy. She stared at him strangely.

"How did you get into my computer?"

"Lucy, you really need to learn how to change your password," Acatha squirmed. "It's been the same since third grade."

"First grade," Lucy corrected automatically. "Hey!"

"Do you want to know who killed these people or not?" Dr Smith asked.

"That would be very nice," Lucy said. "Then we can nail them and leave them to rot in a cell where they belong."

"What do you have for a murder weapon?"

"We're still getting our forensics department to analyse the stab wounds, but as yet we can't find anything that matches."

"You won't find anything. These are made by –"

"Lucy!" somebody called from across the room. "Need you over here!"

"Hold that thought," she said. "I'll be right back."

"There's no time to… hold that thought," he said. "Michael, do you trust me?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really, no," he said.

"Then I trust you," she smiled. "Why?"

"Do you believe in aliens?"

"No way," she said. "My brother does though."

"Where's your brother?"

"Oxford University. He's studying astronomy."

"Ah, a man of the stars. We need to go see him."

"Oxford's an hour away. And the roads are blocked. How are we going to get there?"

"Come with me."

* * *

**Hey guys, thanks for reading :)**

**I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I haven't looked at it for a while, but I just had a brilliant idea for Chapter Three, and I'm on exams, so it's the perfect procrastination from studying. It should be ready very, very soon.**

**Anyway, you know the deal. If you liked it, or you just want to say hi, REVIEW! If you don't write, then you might not know, but they mean a lot. If you don't like the story so far, don't say anything - just leave.**

**I love everybody who loves my work... and all those who just read it :)**

**Love, gabielle.  
**


	3. Chapter Three

**Dearest Readers,**

**I just thought that now would be a good time to say that I do not live in and have never been to London. I live in Perth, Australia, and am just a really big fan of Doctor Who.**

**Thank you.**

**Love Gabielle**

**PS: Please Read and Review. Virtual hugs to anybody who does :)**

**

* * *

**

"Where are you going now?" Acatha shouted across the station. When he didn't answer, she threw up her arms in disbelief and followed after him, frustrated. What was it with men and not answering questions? She grew up with her father, brother, and male teachers doing it all the time. Sometimes, she would ask them questions she already knew the answer to, just to see if they would answer her correctly, or even at all.

She caught him up across the road from the precinct. He was looking up at the thing in the sky, taking acute interest in the patterns on the underside of the disc. "Blimey," he said. "This is one of the most beautiful spacecrafts I've ever seen! Apart from mine, of course."

Acatha was startled. She didn't know which question to ask first. Should she ask 'You've seen more than one spacecraft?' or 'You have your own?' He didn't even seem to notice that she was there. She made her decision.

"What's three time fifteen?" she asked him.

He ignored her, still looking at the underside of the ship. She sighed, and clocked him over the back of the head.

"OW!" he shouted, rubbing the back of his head. "What was that for?"

"I've asked you at least three questions this afternoon, and you haven't answered one of them."

"Three times fifteen is forty-five," he sighed. "I'm surprised a female of your age didn't know something like that. Where we are going now is Oxford, don't ask me how or why, you'll find out soon enough. The Stiltskins... I'll get to them later." He paused, and then looked at her oddly. "Do you have a camera?"

"Yeah," she said, surprised at his request. "I have one in my car. Would you like me to go get it?"

"Yes, please," he said. "We're going that direction anyway. Pip-pip!"

And he sped off. Acatha, still confused at the strange turn of events the afternoon had taken, and mostly the strange man she had met, whose name she was fairly certain she didn't know, took off after him again. As she walked on the path of the same street she always walked to visit her sister at work, she took in the sudden differences the thing in the sky had caused. The shops had closed up early. She was fairly sure that one of them had been looted while the traffic ceased to move forward. The man from the real estate company that was always so cheery whenever Acatha saw him was worried about something, and rushed around in the street seeing if anybody was hurt.

Acatha walked into a pole. _That's what you get for not paying attention, Ack!_ she imagined her younger brother saying, laughing at her. She shook her head, which made the pain worse, she realised, and started off back to the concert hall again, giving due attention to the path this time.

When she arrived, 'John Smith' was leaning against the outer wall of the Grand Pavillion. "There you are!" he said. "I thought you had gotten eaten or something!"

"Eaten?" she asked. "We're in Greater London, what on Earth is going to eat us?"

"You don't want me to answer that, do you?"

"Probably not," she said, moving over to her car. She unlocked the door and reached into the glove box. After about a minute of ferreting around, she found what she as looking for, and pulled out a digital camera in it's bag.

"Excellent," he smiled. "Over here, now." He walked with purpose to a blue box, the words "Police Box, Free Call," written over the top of it. Getting to the door, he pulled a keyring out of his pocket and rifled through them until he found the right one.

Once again, Acatha's brain swirled with questions. Though this time, she knew which one to ask first.

"It's three foot square?" she asked, disbelief clear in her voice.

"It's bigger on the inside," he shrugged.

"I don't see how a three foot box can seem bigger on the inside... It's a three foot box."

"Just, get in, will you?" he said.

"I didn't even notice this thing here before. It's right next to my car... How could I miss it?"

"Perception filter," he smiled. "You don't see, unless you know it's there."

"Isn't that like most things?" Acatha asked.

"That's why it's genius," he grinned, and walked through the door.

Warily, mostly because she'd heard stories about strange men who lured unsuspecting women into small spaces and killed them, and partly because she was adamant that this was a three-foot square box, she followed after him.

It took her a second to realise. And then her jaw dropped to the ground.

Lucy James sat down at her desk and dialled her sister's mobile phone number. It rang out. Confused, she hit redial, and brought up the file about the murders. What had the man been saying? That they wouldn't find a murder weapon? She highly doubted that, but when the phone rang out a second time, Lucy felt it best to see. It would preoccupy her from worrying about her sister.

She quickly dialled the number for the forensics department. Two rings.

"Forensics," Peter Stalk answered. Lucy felt faint for a while, and then regained her composure.

"Peter, it's Lucy," she said. Usually, when she said 'James' on the phone, the person on the other end would get confused, and it would generally end with one of them hanging up. "Have you got any leads on the murder weapon yet?"

"Negatron," he said. He was very into... strange things. "We've run all the regular things, guns, knives, clocks, blades, nothing. We're going to start looking at other things, though there really isn't much you can stab with. Any leads on the rest of the case?"

"Nothing," she sighed. "Thanks, Peter. See you later."

"Seeya," Peter said, and hung up the phone. Lucy did the same, imagining how good it would be to be going out with Peter.

"Holy moley," Acatha breathed. "You weren't kidding."

"About what?" he asked.

"It really is bigger on the inside!"

"Oh, yeah," he shrugged. Then something dawned on him. "Oh, I missed it! That's always my favourite part!"

"Part?" Acatha asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Usually when people come in here, they run out, run around it, and then run back in screaming 'It's bigger on the inside!' It's really quite a laugh... Oh, never mind. Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" she asked. He flicked a switch on a circle board, and the police box went rocking from side to side. Acatha fell over.

"That," he said simply. When the whirring sound was over, Acatha heaved herself up with the rail and rubbed her head. She hit the same spot going down as she had earlier, walking into the pole.

"Are you coming?" he asked, poking his head back through the door. She hadn't even seen him leave.

Making sure she had her clarinet, she followed after him.

"Oh, my God!" she screamed suddenly. "We're at Oxford. How the hell did we get to Oxford so fast?"

"I'll explain it to you later," he said, walking fast, purposefully.

"You better!" she said excitedly, taking out her phone. "Oh, just wait until Cameron finds out I'm here... Oh."

She looked down at her phone, and then to the man.

"What is it?"

"Lucy called me. She must be looking for you... You weren't supposed to leave."

"Call her back, and hand the phone to me," he said. Acatha hit redial and handed the phone to him. "And, direct me to your brother's room. I have no idea where I'm going."

She shook her head for what felt like the billionth time that day, and headed towards the building where her brother spent his days. Acatha didn't know why he stayed at university overnight. London was only an hour drive away, and she constantly found herself missing the company of her little brother at home. Her sister, thankfully, had moved out. You could only take Lucy in small doses. And being stuck at home with only her mother was almost torture.

When she reached her brother's room, she knocked on the door.

"Come in!" his room mate, Axon, shouted.

Acatha opened the door slightly. "Axon," she said, surprised. "Where's Cam?"

"Astronomy building," Axon said, not looking up from his book. Axon was majoring in Literature, and he forever had his nose in a book, except for when he was sleeping, or in the shower. Not that Acatha knew.

"Thanks," she smiled and closed the door behind her. She tapped John Smith on the shoulder and motioned for him to follow her. There was a loud booming sound just as they reached the Astronomy building. Somebody, in a voice that Acatha recognised, swore from inside.


	4. Chapter Four

Acatha screwed up her eyes in embarrassment before bursting through the doors. The observatory was a bustle of activity, people were rushing around everywhere trying to get information, people sitting at computers were shouting at each other. As she scanned the room, she was looking for the blonde hair that belonged to Cameron James, her younger brother.

"Cam!" she called when she had finally spotted him. She rushed over to him, the man following behind. "What's going on?"

"Acatha?" he asked, surprised. "I thought you were in London. How in the world did you get here?"

"It's a long story," she said to him. "Cameron, I'd like you to meet John Smith. He claims he can help with all this."

Smith held his hand out. "Nice to meet you, Michael's brother."

"Michael?"

"Long story," Acatha said again.

Cameron nodded and turned back to the mysterious man. "What's the molecular mass of Jupiter?" he asked suddenly. Acatha groaned. Cameron was probably the only person on earth that knew the answer to that question.

Unfazed, the man rattled off a number with a lot of zeros in about two seconds, and looked at Cameron for approval.

"You're the Doctor, aren't you?" Cameron asked suddenly. "You're here? That's how Ack got here so quickly?"

"How do you know who I am?" the Doctor asked.

"I'm an astronomy student," Cameron said, turning back to his computer. "I've heard all the legends, all the stories. There are people that say you were the one that bought the earth back to where it was supposed to be after the 'Planets in the Sky' incident. I'm probably the only one that believes all of them. What are you doing here?"

"I need to know what you know about the spaceship over London," the Doctor said shortly. As Cameron launched into an explanation, Acatha, feeling obsolete as they talked about spacey stuff, wandered out of the astronomy building and out into the grounds. She looked in the direction of London and realised that the spaceship was a lot bigger than she had originally thought it to be. She could see it from here, although not in the detail she'd been able to see it when she was standing outside her sister's workplace.

She suddenly felt nostalgia. What had actually only been fifteen minutes ago felt like days. This man, the Doctor, had completely changed her world in that many minutes. He talked of such things that would be complete nonsense coming from any mouth but his, and he was absolutely insane. A buzzing came from her pocket, followed by her ringtone. Sighing, she answered her phone without bothering to check the caller ID.

"Mum?" she asked, forgetting that she'd promised she'd be home for dinner. "What's up?"

"Where are you?" her mother asked angrily. "I called you an hour ago and you said you'd be home in half an hour! What's taking you so long?"

"Mum, have you been watching the news? There's a thing up in the sky, and all the major roads have serious accidents on them. There is absolutely no way I can get home. I'm with Lucy at the police station."

"Really?" her mother asked. "I just spoke to Lucy. She didn't say anything about you being there."

"Maybe it slipped her mind, mother," Acatha said. "She's kind of busy. Listen, I'll talk to you later. I have to go. Bye mum!" She hung up before her mother could say anything.

Slipping her phone back into her pocket, she placed her head in her hands. Then she sat up straight again. She had seen something out of the corner of her eye, following somebody into the hospital down the street. But the thing wasn't human. She was definitely sure of that.

Without thinking, she got up and followed it, sure that it was connected to whatever was happening in London. When she was younger, she had played spy games with her brother. They'd developed their abilities of walking silently, blending into the shadows and eavesdropping. It was how they'd found out that Billy, the next door neighbour, was going to therapy because he liked lighting things on fire. Now, she made sure that she couldn't be heard by this creature, whatever it was, and that if it turned around, she could quickly hide.

She followed it all the way to the intensive care unit. Surprisingly, none of the nurses stopped it from walking straight into one of the wards. Baffled, Acatha followed it, making sure nobody would notice that she wasn't supposed to be there. She'd grabbed a coat from one of the corridors a while back, and she'd put it on so that she didn't look suspicious. She could pretend she was a doctor if anybody asked.

The Doctor, she thought. He would want to see this, of course.

The creature was down the other end of the ward, looking at a patient with watchful eyes. Acatha positioned herself near one of the other patients so that she could appear to be checking his vitals while actually still being able to see what the alien was doing. She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the thing as it's hand turned into a massive blade of a strange shape, and it shoved it into the patient's abdomen. Immediately, his heart rate sped up dangerously as he lost blood, his breathing became faster, and blood seeped out onto his sheets. Doctors rushed in and crowded around him.

"One of his wounds has reopened," a doctor shouted. Acatha didn't wait around to see what was going to happen. She knew the man was going to die, and that wasn't really what she wanted to see. Instead, she followed the seemingly invisible creature out of hospital and watched as it ran down the street towards London.

Looking up, Acatha realised that the spaceship had moved closer to Oxford. Alarmed, she looked back down at the alien as it made a sound largely resembling a cackle, and a blue light transported it up into the ship.

She ran as fast as she could back to the astronomy building and interrupted her brother's discussion with the Doctor.

"There's aliens on that ship!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "I saw them."

"What did they look like?" the Doctor asked.

"I really don't want to talk about it..."

"Ack, are you okay?" Cameron asked, passing her a rubbish bin. "In there, please."

"I'm not -" she started, but didn't finish because she had vomited into the bin. "Thanks," she said, ashamed.

"No problem," he said. "What happened?"

She took a deep breath, and somebody handed her a glass of water. She accepted it gratefully and started her explanation. Then she remembered the photo she had taken, and handed it to the Doctor.

"Damn," he said shortly. "Michael, why did you follow it?"

"I don't know," Acatha said. "I just... thought something was dodgy with it."

"What kind of blade is that?" Cameron asked. "It's paddle shaped. It doesn't look like it's from Earth."

"It's not," the Doctor said. "That blade is the arm of the Stiltskin race. They live off the energy that people give off when they die... The energy that people give off when they kill them. The real question is, what the hell is it doing in the hospital?"

"Hang on, didn't you say the Stiltkins were the ones responsible for the killings?"

"Yes, I did," the Doctor nodded. "They're from the Hopscotch Galaxy, miles away. That's why I'm confused as to why they're on Earth. Also, now that the police have gotten on board with this one, the killings are going to become more reckless. That's why this one was in the hospital."

"But, it looked like nobody else could see it. It walked straight into an intensive care ward and nobody looked twice."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her. "But you could see it?"

"No, I couldn't, which is how I knew what it was doing."

"That was sarcastic, right?" he asked. "Anyway, it seems as though you James clan are different from the rest of the humans. Michael can see things that nobody else can see, and Cameron is almost as smart as I am, which is a very high compliment, my friend. What about Lucy?"

"Lucy has very good instincts?" Cameron said after a while.

"BREAKING NEWS!" the head of the astronomy department called, alerting everybody to the news story that was on TV.

"We go now to Lucy James, the detective in charge of the killings. Lucy?"

"Thank you, Yvette," Lucy said on the television. "We have just received word that there is a new victim of the serial killer. This victim was a patient in the intensive care unit at Oxford Hospital. It is reported that he was attacked by the killer once before, but survived. He had been under close guard. No word yet on how the killer managed to infiltrate the hospital, but we are working on it."

"Ms James," the broadcaster asked. "Is there any information on the murder weapon?"

"All we know is that the blade is paddle shaped. We don't yet know of anything that would fit this description, but we are working on it."

"Do you have any warnings for the people of London?"

"Stay inside," Lucy said. "If you do have to go outside, go in groups of three or more. Stay away from any suspicious characters, and don't talk to strangers. I'm aware that you probably have more questions, but I do need to get back to work. Thank you."

There was silence in the room as everybody took in what Acatha's twin sister had said. Then, almost surreally, Acatha, Cameron and the Doctor walked outside and looked up into the sky. The spaceship was directly overhead.


End file.
